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Advanced Planetary Colonization
Back to Planetary Terraforming And Colonization After a planet is terraformed, it passed through the Early Planetary Colonization step. Now, as the first colonies have formed, the first infrastructure takes place, the first economy starts to develop, the first form of government and politics take shape and the first Time, Day And Year settings are being used, it is time to go forward into colonization. When advanced colonization begins The early colonization phase has some things in common: * Low population, located almost only around the former Terraforming Plant * Weather is not yet stable, air and ocean currents might shift, massive rains and droughts may be observed * Hydrologic network is not fixed, massive erosion and sedimentation are common * Vegetation is young, especially forests, plants and animals are still spreading * There is not yet a well-established form of government and political structures are still forming * The economy is still dependent to the outer world * Settlers depend on transport network left from terraforming processes * Time zones, day structure (divisions like minutes and hours) and structure of the year are still being developed * Policies (economical, ecological, tax law and others) are still being developed * Many Geographic features are unnamed. The advanced colonization phase is, by opposite, characterized by this: * Population is still far below Population Limit, concentrated around former terraforming plant, but spreading to remote continents * Weather is more stable and predictable * Hydrologic network is more fixed, erosion and sedimentation now are in acceptable levels * Vegetation and fauna are established to each region * There is a well-established government, we have political structures * The economy is no longer dependent to money sent from outer world * New transportation networks and new energy plants are built * We have time zones, an accepted day subdivisions and an year with its own subdivisions and holidays * Policies (economical, ecological, tax law and others) are clear for everyone * Many Geographic features have names. We suspect that there will pass 10 to 15 years from the moment when a planet is habitable to the point where advanced colonization starts. Demographics During advanced colonization, population density increases significantly. We can see at first an exponential grow, but it will temper to a linear growth. During this phase, more and more people will come to the planet. Those who will come, are usually teens, ready to take a fresh start in their life. Majority of them will be teens, that will come alone and on their own. There will also be young families, with or without children, willing to start a better life. Also, there can be a number of adolescents. Elders will come only in small numbers, most often to follow their children. As most of the newcomers will be teens, they will get married and have their own children, further increasing the population. Some settlers will return to their homelands, but children will not. Policy for immigrants As seen when Europeans conquered the New World, colonization was a desired thing. However, in many places, there were rules about who could be accepted and who will be sent back. The same may happen also in the future. In order to do so, a few institutions will be needed: International base. In the USA, all immigrants came to the East Coast, mostly to New York. In the future, this can be done very easy. If all ships will be instructed to dock on a single, giant base, there will be an excellent control in immigrants. The former base created for the terraforming plant, will be extended and upgraded, to handle the increasing traffic. Selection center. Once arrived to the international base, immigrants will be token to the selection center. This facility must be built nearby and with no ways to escape. There will be a few important tests that everyone has to pass: * Overall medical test. * Contagious disease test. * Psychological test. In addition, an international identification database is needed. This way, we can check if one person is condemned for a crime, for an abuse, is wanted for something or has debts to a bank. Some states will require that each newcomer will guarantee that it has money to live. They will be asked to prove they have enough cash to live for 100 days. Also, some states might ask for a fee, in order to achieve citizenship. People entering the selection center will have to stay in quarantine for a period of time, to make sure they are not carrying any disease and to check the international database for each of them. Adaptation center. Moving to another planet is harder then moving to another continent. People might need to adapt to the new environment and will spend some time doing so. They will deal with a new gravity, with a different type of air, different radiation and atmospheric ionization and a completely different climate. Colonization center. This institution is vital in dividing land to newcomers. It will allocate a parcel to every new citizen who requires this. Parcels will be small around towns or larger in rural areas. Land could be achieved in 3 ways: * Free land (small size), automatically given to new residents * Pioneer land (larger size, also free) for pioneers going into remote areas * Auction land (various sizes), sold by the state through auctions * State land for sale (various sizes), with various prices * Recycled land (former abandoned land), to be sold or offered for free. Center for rejected people. This institution will handle those who are not granted citizenship. These people would, most probably, be sent back to where they came. However, some states will find other solutions. Rejected people can be settled on a remote continent, where they will not have a chance to sail or fly out. Some sci-fi novels suggest that rejected people will be sold as slaves. At some point, it might be possible. Economy A planet during the advanced colonization phase has a booming economy. It must use this opportunity at best. Sources of income for the state As population increases, so does the economy. And even more, the economy continues to grow for a while even if population does not increase. This is because settlers will try to build where they settle, to create a farm, a factory, a village or a town. The first sources of income for the state are land sales. Land policy is very important. It must allow small amounts of cheap land for everybody (enough that one can survive by working the land), but price per square meter must grow with land size. Also, sold land that is not used, should return to the state under certain conditions. A second source of income for the state is represented by trade. As the economy starts to develop, trade starts too. In order to keep the economy growing, taxes should be low and simple. It is possible that, at the time when terraforming will happen, there will be no paper money. In this case, it is more easy to automatically pay a tax each time you buy or sell something. A third source of income is printing money, without producing inflation. As population and economy increases, the state will need to add money into the system. If not, deflation starts. As population doubles, the economy might triple. With the same amount of circulating money, prices will drop. In deflation, prices fall and the value of land and products rise. Sales are hold, because everyone waits for a better value. The state must keep a balance between inflation and deflation. State costs During the advanced colonization, the economy is booming, but this phase will not last forever. Also, the state must take advantage of the fact that land is still almost entirely state-owned. At this phase, the state has to take actions for a better future for all. It is good if it does. Classic state costs. The population, in this phase, will consist mostly of teens and working people. There will not be many elders that will need pensions. Also, there will not be many medical disabled people and people with a handicap. The state must take an advantage of this situation. And also, government size must not be too much, it must not be a too heavy weight for the settlers. Time for investments This is the moment when large-scale investments must be token into consideration. A planet-wide development plan must be chosen carefully. Large scale investments should be done by the state or by private companies under guidance from the state. Private companies can do the work for free if the future income is worth the investment, if they are helped. How could a state help this? By offering them free land, by allowing them a tax-free regime for a period of time and by giving land names to them. Transport. During terraforming, many raw materials have been mined and transported to the terraforming plant. Also, many products had to be transported to various sites, to ameliorate soils and ocean water. This was done using waterways (if oceans were navigable) and in most of cases by rail. Without asphalt, it is far more easy to build railways, since iron ores are more common. In addition, shorter unpaved roads were built from rail lines to specific locations. Railway producing factories should be still functional. A government would invest in extending rail network to the whole planet, to facilitate colonization. However, we would expect trains to be automated and following a strict schedule. In addition to rails, roads will also develop, even if at first they will only connect rail station to nearby areas. Without asphalt, the only options nature would give use are pavement and concrete (the last one seems more acceptable). Ground transportation routes will be more important for cargo. In the space age, air transport will be affordable for many. And also platforms for space stations should appear from place to place. Communications. As we see on Earth, communications are vital. Each newly terraformed planet and moon will soon build its own network of satellites. However, this will be different then on Earth. Some moons lack of stable orbits around them, Also, tidal locked planets and moons cannot have geosynchronous satellites. In a sparsely populated area, the use of ground relays is useless. Space satellites are more useful. Water management. The Geography of a terraformed planet differs from Earth's in the fact that there will be many waterfalls and rapids, as well as many lakes and even inland seas. Over time, erosion and sedimentation will alter many of these features. River slopes are not in equilibrium between erosion and sedimentation. Therefore, a town built near a river might be destroyed as the river deepens it valley and creates a new canyon. Or, by opposite, a town near a river can be in time covered with sediments. Now is the time to take action. Construction of large-scale dams is possible in this phase, because land is state-owned. The dams will control erosion and sedimentation rates, will provide energy for all new colonies and will provide water for irrigation. Also, during this phase, we can divert rivers by blasting new canals. This can bring water to an endorheic basin, to prevent a lake from drying up. Ecology We must be very careful not to destroy a terraformed planet as we are destroying the Earth now. We must keep a close eye on Pollution of any kind. From the beginning, all plants used for agriculture must be disease-free. The planet will have Atomic Carbon, but it must not be used as a fossil fuel. Population density is very important. We must avoid regional overpopulation. The state must stimulate colonization in remote areas, but once a place becomes overpopulated, taxes should increase there. Competition There will be many terraformed planets and moons, each one willing to have more settlers. A competition will exist. Independence Each time a state or an empire expands its borders, people in remote provinces want freedom or at least autonomy. The Phoenician colony of Cartagena broke free, Greek colonies also became free. Later, European colonies in the New World became independent states. The same we expect to see in the future. Terraformed planets and moons will become free states, with or without a war. Category:Technology